‘Landmark day’: Abney Park cemetery saved from heritage risk register

A bird’s eye view of Abney Park Chapel. Photograph: Historic England

Hackney Council has hailed the rescue of Abney Park cemetery from the government’s list of threatened historic buildings.

Following the completion of restoration work this year the Stoke Newington burial ground and its chapel were taken off Historic England’s ‘At Risk’ register on 14 November — after thirty years of campaigning.

Mayor Caroline Woodley told the Citizen: “It’s beautiful that we’ve retained that quality of the cemetery as a magnificent space that has rewilded.

“Abney Park is a site of importance for nature conservation, but we’ve also put in community space, a really thriving cafe and reinstated workshops.”

The removal from the register marks a milestone for the cemetery, which has been designated as vulnerable to neglect, decay or loss or since 1998.

Abney belongs to London’s ‘Magnificent Seven’, a group of private burial grounds across the capital including Highgate and Tower Hamlets cemeteries.

The churchyard was originally laid out between 1839—1840 as a non-denominational burial ground and developed as a botanical garden devoted to trees or ‘arboretum’.

After the company responsible for the cemetery collapsed by the mid-20th century, the site fell into rack and ruin and was subsequently abandoned as while the park itself grew wilder, prompting a campaign to save the site.

By the 1980s, Hackney Council had taken it over and began managing the graveyard as an ‘urban woodland park’ in partnership with the independent trust.

Restoration and conservation work to Abney Park has been funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund, alongside the Town Hall, with total investment topping £5 million.

The renovation of the Grade II-listed chapel building was completed in August this year, alongside a new café at the park’s entrance, run by east London caterer Sabel Foods.

Mayor Woodley praised the “lovely” collaboration between local children, who were involved in the design of the “beautiful” stained glass chapel windows, and artist Piotr Franc.

The volunteer-run charity Abney Park Trust announced that since completion, thousands of visitors have flocked to the memorial site on walks and tours of the grounds and the local nature reserve.

Trust chair Tom Walker praised the ‘brilliant’ news and the impact of the restoration:

“It’s good for the park’s fabric, creating these brilliant community facilities, and it enables an organisation like the trust to deliver a programme of events about Abney Park.

“The restored building has made the park much more accessible, with changes to both entrances, new facilities, community space, a cafe, better offices for both the council officers and our two staff.

“We’re able to do much more professional outreach, from fundraising events but also history talks, school study groups, community engagement and ecology events.”

Abney Park Trust is an independent, volunteer-led registered charity co-ordinating low-cost activities for the public. Donations can be made on their website.